Frank Smallboy, Blackfeet Indian, Grieves the Death of His Wife
Frank Smallboy, a Blackfeet Indian, said his wife of 37 years had died three months prior, and he couldn’t face his family in Browning, Montana. He rode Amtrak out to Portland, Oregon and was living on the streets.
Frank said that the Blackfeet tradition is to burn all the belongings of the deceased, to release them, and he was having a hard time letting go of Agnes, who died of breast cancer. They fell in love when they were each 15, and married at age 18. He has four daughters, and (when he’s not on the streets) he lives with his mother in Browning, Mont. Sept. 18, 2007 photo